During 2004-05 RIS organized a number of policy dialogues, conferences and symposia to fulfill its mandate of fostering intellectual dialogue among developing countries. Major events organized in the period include:
High-Level Conference on Asian Economic Integration: Vision of a New Asia, Tokyo, 18-19 November 2004
The high-level conference was organized by RIS in collaboration with the Council on East Asian Community (CEAC), Tokyo; Development Research Centre (DRC) for the State Council of China, Beijing; Global Security Research Institute (G-SEC), Keio University, Tokyo;
Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), Kuala Lumpur; and with the support of Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Tokyo. It was attended by heads or senior experts of leading think-tanks of Asia. It was a follow-up of an earlier conference organized by RIS in New Delhi in March 2003 to promote the agenda of a broader Asian economic cooperation. Hon’ble Mr. Koichi Kato, Member of Japanese Diet delivered the inaugural address. Among the distinguished experts who addressed the conference include Professor E. Sakakibara, former Vice-Minister of Finance, Japan; Dr Rodolfo Severino, former Secretary- General of ASEAN; Prof. Zhang Xiaoji, Director-General, DRC, Beijing; Dr Eric Teo, Council Secretary, Singapore Institute for International Affairs; Dr Djisman Simandjuntak, Chairman, CSIS, Jakarta; Professor Mohammed Ariff, Executive Director, MIER, Kuala Lumpur; Ambassador M. Xuto, Executive Director, ITD, Bangkok; Prof. Yao Chao Cheng, Dean, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China; Dr Chan-Hyun Sohn, Senior Fellow, KIEP, Seoul; Professor T. Ide, former Vice Minister, EPA, Japan; Professor A. Seth, President, G-SEC, Tokyo; Prof.
Ito Kenichi, President, CEAC, Tokyo; Shri B.J. Panda, Hon’ble MP, India; Ambassador Shashank, former Foreign Secretary, India; Ambassador S.T. Devare, Vice - Chairman, RIS; Dr Nagesh Kumar, DG-RIS; Mr Rahul Khullar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India; Dr Rajiv Kumar, Chief Economist, CII;
senior officials of ADB, UN-ESCAP, among many others.
The conference issued a statement calling for launch of an Asian Economic Community in a phased manner to begin with Japan, ASEAN, China, India and Korea (JACIK).
India-ASEAN Eminent Persons Lecture by Secretary- General, ASEAN, New Delhi, 18 October 2004
RIS jointly with the Ministry of External Affairs organized the Fifteenth India-ASEAN Eminent Persons Lecture by H.E. Mr. Ong Keng Yong, Secretary-General, ASEAN on 18 October 2004 in New Delhi. H.E. Mr. Ong Keng Yong spoke on “Forging ASEAN-India: Partnership for the 21st Century”. Shri Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, chaired. DG-RIS welcomed the delegates
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Minister of Commerce and Industry Mr. Kamal Nath at inauguration of the 3rd Indo-ASEAN Business Summit. Also seen in the picture (from left) are Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia;
H.E. Mr. Ong Keng Yong, Secretary General, ASEAN; FICCI President Shri Y. K. Modi and Shri Y.C. Deveswar, Vice President, CII.
From left to right: Dr. Nagesh Kumar, Director General, RIS; Shri Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs; H.E. Mr. Ong Keng Yong, Secretary General ASEAN; and Shri Rajiv Sikri, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs at the India-ASEAN Eminent Persons Lecture.
and Ambassador Rajiv Sikri, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs extended a vote of thanks.
Regional Conference on SAARC: Post-Islamabad Challenges, New Delhi, 31 August 2004
This Conference was organized by RIS jointly with South Asia Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS) with participation by senior experts from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and India. The conference addressed the issues concerning challenges to the implementation of SAFTA, potential for cooperation in energy issues as well as evolving a regional approach to poverty and social issues. Late Shri J. N. Dixit, the then National Security Adviser, delivered the inaugural address.
Among the distinguished experts who addressed the Conference included Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Hon’ble Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas; Professor Arjun Sengupta, Chairman, RIS; Professor Rehaman Sobhan, Executive Director, SACEPS; Professor Muchkund Dubey, President, CSD; Dr. Mohan Man Sainju, Chairman, IIDS, Kathmandu; Dr Sman Kelegama, Executive Director, Institute for Policy Studies, Colombo; Dr. Kamal Hossain, Former Foreign Minister of Bangladesh; Dr Akmal Hussain, Member of Economic Advisory Board to the President of Pakistan; and Dr. Abhijit Sen, Member, Planning Commission.
International Conference on Biotechnology for Asian Development; New Delhi, 7-8 April 2004 This conference was organized by RIS in collaboration with CII and IUCN and with the support of UNESCO and the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. Shri K. C. Pant, then Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission inaugurated the Conference. The Conference was addressed by leading experts on the subject from several Asian countries and covered sessions on Biotechnology and Food Security in Asia: Priorities and Challenges; Biotechnology and IPR Regime:
International Developments and Policy Options; Trade, Labeling, Traceability and Issues in Biosafety Management; Socio-Economic Analysis and Studies on Biotechnology; Public-Private Partnerships in Biotechnology: Issues, Modalities and Lessons; Country Specific Experiences and Options for Asian Regional Cooperation in Biotechnology; and devoted a special panel discussion to Agricultural Biotechnology in India.
National Workshop on Strategic Approach to Strengthening International Competitiveness in Knowledge-based Industries, New Delhi, 13 August 2004
This workshop was organized by RIS jointly with the
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science and Technology. Shri Rao Inderjit Singh, Honourable Minister of State for External Affairs inaugurated the Workshop and Dr. George B. Assaf, Director, UNIDO, New Delhi delivered a keynote lecture.
The Workshop covered presentations of studies prepared by RIS faculty and consultants as a part of the DSIR project on the subject and commentaries by policy makers and industry representatives from select technology intensive branches of industry.
Seminar on National Innovation System:
Experience of Select Asian Countries, New Delhi, 14 January 2005
This seminar was chaired by Professor Ashok Parthasarathi, Centre for Study of Science Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University and had a keynote presentation by Dr. Se-Jun Yoon, Director, Asia and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT), New Delhi.
The other presentations were ‘The Case of Thailand’ by Dr. Patarapong Intarakumnerd, Project Leader, National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Thailand; ‘The Case of Vietnam’ by Dr. Bach Tan Sinh, Acting Director, National Institute for Science and Technology Policy and Strategy Studies (NISTPSS), Vietnam; ‘The Case of India’ by Professor K.J. Joseph, Visiting Senior Fellow, and ‘The Case of Singapore’ by Dr Sachin Chaturvedi, Fellow RIS.
Outreach, Global Presence and Networking In order to increase international visibility and outreach, an attempt has been made to participate in major international events relevant to the work of RIS. As a part of this, RIS has obtained a Consultative Status with UNCTAD, WTO and NAM and has participated in the preparatory processes for the high level meetings to influence the international development agenda. The growing international recognition of RIS work on multilateral trade negotiations led to an invitation by the WTO Secretariat to address a key panel at the WTO Public Symposium held in Geneva in May 2004. RIS has also taken steps to strengthen networking with other policy think-tanks for collaborative activities. A MoU has been signed with the Development Research Centre (DRC) of the State Council of China for a regular policy dialogue following the first dialogue conducted in New Delhi in March 2004. DRC, Malaysian Institute of Economic Research, and the Council of East Asian Community, Japan also collaborated with RIS in organization of the High-level Conference in Tokyo. RIS also received delegations from Shanxi University of
Economics in China and from Institute of World Economics and Politics in Hanoi, Vietnam to establish institutional links. Relationship with the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) Singapore was further strengthened during the year with joint publication of three books and with the proposal of organizing the Second ASEAN-India Forum in India in 2005 jointly.
Relationship with IPS, Sri Lanka; ITD, Bangkok and Centre for Policy Dialogue, Dhaka have continued to grow stronger with BIMSTEC report being produced in collaboration with them. RIS has also strengthened links with Pakistan Institute for Development Economics (PIDE) which hosted a seminar to launch RIS’ South Asia Development and Cooperation Report 2004 in Islamabad at the Pakistan Planning Commission Auditorium in August 2004. RIS has also collaborated with the South Asia Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS) presently headquartered at Dhaka in co-hosting a number of seminars including a joint conference in Dhaka in May 2004 on SAARC economic integration issues and launch of RIS 2004 Report. RIS had launched a New Asia Forum as a network of institutions and experts to promote regional economic integration in Asia. This network has developed with its own dedicated website www.newasiaforum.org and a quarterly journal New Asia Monitor which have been received well. The Forum website is fast becoming a rich repository of news, analysis and documentation on Asia’s development prospects and regional cooperation and the journal, a forum for exchange of information, resources and analysis on regional economic cooperation in Asia.
UN-ESCAP has invited RIS to be a member of the Institutional Advisory Board (IAB) for its Asia-Research Network on Trade (ARTNET) representing India and to participate in its meetings. RIS collaborated with the Asian Development Bank (Manila) for its High-Level Conference on Asian Economic Cooperation, besides discussions on possible funding of two research projects.
UNCTAD, Geneva consulted RIS in connection with its World Investment Report 2004 and International Food Policy Research Institute (Washington) has commissioned a study on seed industry besides ongoing collaboration in food safety project along with Universities of Melbourne and ANU and Thammasat University in Bangkok. IUCN- Asia Region based in Colombo has signed a MoU with RIS for research collaboration besides jointly organizing a conference on biotechnology in Asia. Commonwealth Secretariat, London has also commissioned a study at RIS.
RIS has been designated as the Academic Arm Unit from India for the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) and
participated at the ACD Think-Tanks Symposium held at Bangkok on 15-17 December 2004.